WORLD
* The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone is a crisis of confidence in the ability of the European authorities to take decisive measures to resolve Europe’s economic woes, European Commission President Manual Barroso said
* Greek prosecutors closed extradition proceedings against a Russian national detained in Greece on suspicion of involvement in an arms deal with Colombia’s FARC guerrilla group
* Iran’s Navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have taken delivery of new anti-ship cruise missiles, the Fars news agency reported
RUSSIA
* The Russian parliament’s upper house ratified agreements concluded last year with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, under which Moscow will set up military bases in the breakaway republics
* Russia has returned to Iran a prepayment it received for S-300 surface-to-air missile systems it ultimately refused to deliver, the IRNA news agency reported
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for increasing incentives for alternative energy use in boiler house
BUSINESS
* European Commission officials have searched offices of gas companies in ten European states, including subsidiaries of Russian gas giant Gazprom
* The European Commission proposed a financial transaction tax expected to take effect from 2014 and raise about 57 billion euros ($78 billion) a year
* Russia’s finance ministry has no plans to increase taxes in the nearest future, acting finance minister Anton Siluanov said
* British oil major BP has put on hold a key hi-tech project worth 6.7 million pounds ($8 million) in Skolkovo near Moscow over fears that it may be accused of breaching a shareholder agreement with its Russian venture TNK-BP